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Political

A Monument To The Unelected

November 12, 2016November 12, 2016 gags

Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign sign joins presidential runners-up in Nina Katchadourian’s “Monument to the Unelected” in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Hillary became the 59th presidential election loser on the Lefferts Historic House’s lawn.

In Brooklyn, a Clinton Sign Joins a Collection Dedicated to ‘Monument to the Unelected’

“It’s good to think about this country’s complicated history right now,” artist Nina Katchadourian told Hyperallergic, just a few minutes before she placed the 2016 addition to her “Monument to the Unelected” installation on the lawn of the Lefferts Historic House in Prospect Park. It’s the project’s 59th sign created for the runner-up to every American presidential campaign.

The structure itself, an 18th-century Dutch farmhouse, is a reminder of the long, complex societal history of New York City, especially as two candidates with deep connections in the area conclude their turbulent campaign. Today’s dreary weather and small, quiet group of reporters contributed to a somber mood as Katchadourian placed a sign emblazoned with “I’m with Hillary 2016” on the rebar poles in the ground.

As Hrag Vartanian reported earlier this week for Hyperallergic, she started the project in 2008, including the runners-up from that election (McCain/Palin), and revisited it in 2012 (Romney/Ryan). “I’m really committed to showing this four years from now, no matter what,” she added, although noted that this year it was “more timely than ever.” The ultimate goal of the project, which she describes as “politically neutral,” is to “think about what we’ve done, and think about it again.”

Indeed, it’s tempting to imagine a different reality when instead of the Clinton sign is one for Trump. Each of the signs represents another path for the country, whether an Al Gore victory in 2000, or Aaron Burr in 1800. “Monument to the Unelected” will stay on view this weekend, where pedestrians walking down Flatbush Avenue, spying the work through the fence, or visitors within Prospect Park, can witness this visual narrative of American alternate histories.

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unelectedmonument01-768x512 — Nina Katchadourian installing the 2016 addition to “Monument to the Unelected”

That yard must be a real pain to mow!

Political

Clinton’s New House Renovated Without Permits

October 30, 2016October 30, 2016 gags

Guess what? Bill and Hillary Clinton ordered renovation work on a new house next to their Chappaqua, N.Y home without acquiring the proper permits. What are the odds that this house was paid for by the Clinton Crime Family Foundation?

Laws are for the little people.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton have been renovating a house they bought next to their Chappaqua residence without several required local permits, according to building department records.

An in-ground swimming pool at 33 Old House Lane — the 3,631-square-foot, ranch-style house the Clintons bought for $1.16 million in August — had been back-filled and covered with gravel, according to an October report from town Building Inspector William Maskiell.

Maskiell, who said he visited the home Oct. 5, after the department received a complaint about excavation done there, said as he headed to the basement to talk to the contractor, he noticed the kitchen, floors and walls appeared to have been recently renovated and new electrical fixtures were being installed in the ceiling. The person who complained was not identified.

Maskiell said he told the contractor that permits were required.

“During conversation I was told that the owners wanted to have all work done and finished by Thanksgiving and were quite adamant about it and what had started as a paint job turned into this,” Maskiell’s Oct. 17 inspection report said.

A Clinton spokesperson did not return requests for comment.

Maskiell said in an interview that sometimes homeowners come in to file for a permit, but the majority of the time it is either an architect or contractor.

“The homeowners have to sign the applications because it’s their property,” Maskiell said. “If you own the house, you’re responsible on everything that goes on with that house.”

The major outstanding permits at 33 Old House Lane are for the filling-in of the pool and the home renovation, he said.

Maskiell said while it’s conceivable the previous owner of 33 Old House Lane could have made some changes there, “the work I saw, at least 90 percent or 95 percent that I saw I can honestly say (was) being done now.”

Permit issues that continue to go unaddressed can lead to fines against a homeowner and/or a contractor, he said.

The Journal News/lohud obtained the building department records through a state Freedom of Information Law request.

Among the documents needed at the 33 Old House Lane property are a demolition permit for the pool, a permit for the house renovations, and certification that the material used to fill the pool is not from a contaminated source. There have been reports that 33 Old House Lane would be a getaway home for the Clintons’ daughter, Chelsea, and her family.

At 15 Old House Lane, a home at the end of a cul-de-sac where the Clintons have lived on and off since buying it for $1.7 million in 1999, Maskiell wrote that “during a standard records search and follow-up conversations” there were some outstanding permits there as well. That includes an electrical inspection at a library/gym, and a sprinkler sign-off by an engineer and the town water department, according to the building inspector’s October reports.

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Amusing

Wagon Car

September 5, 2016September 4, 2016 gags

Not your father’s Radio Flyer wagon.

Enjoy!

When Herb Cook of Gowanda heads out to his garage, it’s because he wants to play with his wagon.

It’s pretty obvious that his bright red Radio Flyer is not like the one we had as kids. For starters, this one is a lot bigger and gets 18 miles to the gallon. Herb said, “We usually run it 55 to 65 miles per hour.”

Herb’s wife June wasn’t surprised when her husband said he planned to turn a 1993 Ford pick-up truck with a 160,000 miles on it into a wagon. The project took about a year to complete, but it began with stripping the truck down to the chassis.

Herb did a lot of the work and June helped. They had the steel body manufactured. According to Herb, “I had no way of bending 14 gauge steel.”

This one-of-a-kind wagon gets plenty of second looks. June and Herb have a ball driving it around, sometimes in parades and sometimes just for the fun of it out on the open highway.

The big kid’s motorized Radio Flyer makes people smile when they see it and that’s okay with Herb, he said, “If it can make people laugh and smile a little bit, that’s my reward for building it.”

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